Get Sorted: There's no denying it

When it comes to planning for retirement, it's too easy to ignore because we really don't want to know how we're tracking. Photo / Thinkstock

There are times when we just really don’t want to know how our finances are tracking towards retirement.

"You're lucky you got it here to the station at all," our mechanic told my wife after she wisely stopped in to see why our venerable 18-year-old wagon was stalling repeatedly. Turns out it had blown a gasket.

Just the night before I had taken it for a spin to see what was happening and had played it down. "It's just idling a bit low," I told her. It seems I can take "she'll be right" to all sorts of irrational levels!

Ah denial, a great state to be in. Sometimes we just don't want to know. And when it comes to planning for retirement, it's too easy to ignore because we really don't want to know how we're tracking.

Where to begin? The idea is to start by taking stock of where we are today (which, of course, may not actually be where we think we are). That way we can start planning for a bright future.

You'd be surprised at how easy this can be. Start with Sorted's net worth calculator, where you simply figure out your position today by subtracting what you owe from what you own. It's not so important early on how high or low your net worth is, but rather that you're making decisions that grow it.

Then there's this low-stress retirement planner, which lets you estimate how much income on top of NZ Super you'll need to fund your retirement over your lifetime. Most people will have a gap between what the government pension will provide and what we'll need to live on.

Then, when you're ready (although of course you don't want to put it off too long), you can also get professional advice to help you make informed decisions.

Put in a little time now and you could be looking at an extra five figures to spend in your retirement.

That wagon is still running, although it appears to be haemorrhaging oil at the moment - I wonder when I'll get round to taking it in?

Get Sorted is written by Sorted's resident blogger, Tom Hartmann. Check out the guides and calculators at Sorted - brought to you by the Commission for Financial Capability - at sorted.org.nz.